Vehicle safety signaling device



March 23, 1954 vc. R. WEISHUHN VEHICLE SAFETY SIGNALING DEVICE FiledNov. 10, 1952 F'is.2.

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Patented Mar. 23, 1954 UNITED STAT E S PATEN OFF 1 CE.v

VEHICLE SAFETY SIGNALINGDEVICE Cecil Rrweishuhn, Grand Blanc, Mich.

Application November 10, 1952, Serial No. 319,740

2 Claims.

The'present invention. re ates to a sa ety passing li ht and it consistsin the combinations, constructions and arrangements of partshereindescribe! an claimed.

Generally there is provided a passing light ada tedto be attache to therear of trucks or the ik and-wh ch 's di ided nto a relativel largeupper compartment n a relatively smaller l we co pa tment Thev upper comartment is providedwith a curved a s w n ow up n which is rinted. oother ise displayed the words safe to pass. The lower co partment isprovided with a curved g ass window upon which is de icted the wordwait. The glass of the upper compartment is colored green while that ofthe lower compartment is colored amber. A novel feature of the inventionis the provision with the upper compartment of a relatively smallseparate compartment which lies i med ately behind a portion of theglass window upon which is depicted an arrow. Within the last-mentionedcompartment there is provided a lamp having a conventional flashingmeans incorporated therein and in the other two compartments there isprovided suitable lamps for lighting the windows. The device is suchthat the upper or lower compartments may be lighted at the will of theoperator of the vehicle upon which the device is mounted.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a signal of thecharacter set forth which is simple in construction, inexpensive tomanufacture and yet efiective and efiicient in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a device of thecharacter set forth, a novel separate compartment containing a flashinglamp adapted to illuminate a portion of a window covering a largercompartment in which such first mentioned compartment is located.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent from areading of the fo lowing specification taken in conjunction with thedrawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of an embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken on line 2-2 ofFigure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on line 33 ofFigure 2,

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is a front elevational view of a switch forming a part of theinvention, and

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic wiring view of the electric circuit used withthe signaling device.

Referring more particularly to the drawing,

2 there is shown therein a housing having a rear wall Ill, a bottom wallII; a top wall l2 and side walls. Iii-and l4; Interconnecting thesidewalls i3 and l 4 in spaced. relation-to the bottom wall I l is apartition l5 which divides the casing vertically into a relatively largeupper compartment I 6 and a relatively smaller. lower-compartment l1.

Formedcentrally in thecompartment l6 adiaeent the side wall i3:bymeansof smaller walls 18, 19 and 29 together with thewall I3 is an,inner compartment 2 I. A. frame22;is affixedto the forward edges of thecasing I 9 by means of screws 23 or the like and is provided with a pairof openings for the display therethrough of the interiors of thecompartments l6 and IT. A relatively large window 24 is mounted in theupper end of the frame 22 while a relatively smaller window 25 ismounted in the lower portion of the frame 22. The windows 24 and 25 arecurvula-r when viewed from above, as indicated at 26 in Figure 5 and thewindow 24 is colored green while the window 25 in colored amber.

The window 24 has painted or otherwise depicted thereon the words safeto pass, as shown at 21 while the window 25 has depicted thereon theword. wait as shown at 28. Within the compartment Hi there is provided aplurality of lamps 29 while within the lower compartment [1 there isprovided a lamp 3ft. A lamp 3| of the flashing type is mounted in thecompartment 2|. Suitable wiring such as is indicated at 32 is providedfor interconnecting the lamps with a switch 33 mounted upon aninstrument panel 34 in the vehicle carrying the device of the presentinvention. The switch 33 is mounted in a plate 35 which also has mountedtherein an upper lamp 36 colored green and a lower lamp 31 colored red.

In operation, when the three position switch 33 is moved to its upperposition, it willact to light the lamp 36 and the lamps 29 together withthe flashing light 31. This will illuminate the words safe to pass witha steady green light and will likewise illuminate an arrow 38 formed onthat portion of the window 24 over the compartment 2|. When the switch33 is moved to its lower position, it will light the signal lamp 36 andthe lamp 3!! thus illuminating the lower compartment l1 and the wordwait on the window 25.

It will be seen that the device provides a definite signal to oncomingtraffic approaching the rear of a truck or the like upon which thispresent invention may be mounted thus clearly indicating when it is safeto pass to the left of such vehicle and also indicating clearly when itis desirous to wait before attempting to so pass.

While but one form of the invention has been shown and described herein,it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many minormodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device of the character described comprising a casing, having anopen front wall, a partition in said casing dividing the same into arelatively large compartment and a relatively small compartment, a glasswindow for each of said compartments, indicia upon the window of thelarger compartment indicating that it is safe to pass, indicia upon thewindow of the smaller compartment indicating wait before attempting topass, a third compartment formed within said first compartment, saidthird compartment having an open front wall, an arrow depicted upon theWindow of the relatively large compartment immediately in front of theopen front of said third compartment, illuminating lamps in each of thefirst-mentioned compartments, a flashing lamp in said third compartment,and means for selectively lighting said lamps.

2. A device of the character described comprising a casing, having anopen front wall, a parti- 4 compartment, a glass window for each of saidcompartments, indicia upon the window of the larger compartmentindicating that it is safe to pass, indicia upon the window of thesmaller compartment indicating Wait before attempting to pass, a thirdcompartment formed within said first compartment, said third compartmenthaving an open front wall, an arrow depicted upon the window of therelatively large compartment immediately in front of the open front ofsaid third compartment, illuminating lamps in each of thefirst-mentioned compartments, a flashing lamp in said third compartment,and means for selectively lighting said lamps, said means includingsuitable electrical circuits and a threeposition switch, one of saidpositions controlling the lamp in said lower compartment, one of saidpositions controlling the lamps in th other two compartments, andthethird position being the off position for all of said lamps.

CECIL R. WEISHUHN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,893,371 Knowlton Jan. 3, 1933 2,044,300 Heans June 16, 19362,464,535 Smith, Jr Mar. 15, 1949 2,517,173 Blasingame Aug. 1, 19502,597,584 Hopkins May 20, 1952

